When waiting becomes old-fashioned

During a business forum in London in March, Su Wang, vice-president of the JD group, explained the key to Joybuy's fast delivery was its smart supply chain, which the group honed in China over several years.

In the past, the supply chain was packed with many players — suppliers, shippers, retailers — along the whole chain, so the logistics data was scattered and segregated.

"You don't really have the full picture of what is going on, so when something goes wrong, it is really hard to fix," he said. "JD has been focusing on building a data-enabled digital supply chain for the past decade, so that's really where our core focus and core capability lie."

Su said now JD can have real-time data along the whole chain: inventories, orders, deliveries, all in real time. "By having all that information integrated together, we can very quickly find out what is going on, and if things go wrong, how to fix them," said Su. "That dramatically increases efficiency and saves energy along the entire supply chain."

A more nuanced picture emerges from frequent cross-border users familiar with JD's domestic model in China.

Oliver Pearce, the London-based executive director for Europe at iMpact, said Joybuy's early performance in the UK reflects the company's core strength in logistics. "I once ordered just before midnight and received the package early the next morning," he said. "That's significantly faster than most platforms in the UK."

Pearce also recalled ordering replacement plates during the platform's soft launch after an earlier shipment from China arrived damaged. The order arrived in time for a Chinese New Year dinner.

"From a user perspective, that reliability really stands out," he said. "In terms of positioning, it currently feels quite niche and community-led in the UK, with strong traction among Chinese users."